There was no quiet to be found this predawn morning even in this office. The roar of heavy machinery & plane engines complimented by the frantic activities of the damage and repair parties echoed even here.

The office had a strange glow to it. The white light from the office lamps fought for dominance over the orange-red light which flickered from the windows bathing the room in a Dante like illumination. For the first time in two nights the office light was winning, but this struggle was lost on the sole occupant of the office.

Husband sat exhausted in his desk chair surrounded by a mountain of reports, papers, and folders each piece containing more death, more bad news, more devastation. His chest throbbed slightly when he reached for the next report and reviewed the report again and again searching for a way to strike back, to make good. Attention to detail, that was his focus now he told himself. Bull, he thought, if only Bull could link up off Wake. Husband thought and worried a lot about Bull and his carriers this morning.

On Husband’s shoulders’ were four stars again. Not the two that should be there. In a fit of despair, he had ripped the four off on Sunday as he watched his ships, his fleet, burn and sink. But he was still in command and could do much maimed though he was.

The answers were somewhere in the reports, Husband knew. Details, yes. Decisive action, yes. Husband yearned to hit back with every fiber of his being. Oh, to have the New York here. His ship. Well, perhaps the submarines could catch the enemy carriers or the oilers and support ships. Surely, they had oilers nearby. And if their course stayed the same, maybe Bull could do something on the Wake to Midway line. Surely, they were low on fuel and supplies.

Half of the battleship fleet sunk. The West Virginia, Nevada, Tennessee, and the Oklahoma gone, victims of deadly Japanese torpedoes in this torpedo proof harbor. They even hit his flagship, the Pennsylvania, with torpedoes and she was in drydock. Then there was the Phoenix, Husband would never forget the sound the light cruiser made when her magazine exploded. He wondered how he would ever sleep again.

The remaining capital ships were all heavily damaged, but all of the fires were either out or under control. Sadly, the shipyard had been heavily damaged in the raid too and most of ships would need to go to other yards for repair. Philadelphia and other east coast yards would be busy for a year or more if Husband could get the wounded ships there. That is if they survived today.

Some fires still blazed away on some of the smaller ships especially the destroyer Preble. It seemed incredible that the ship could still float as the fire seemed to consume the ship.

In addition to the larger ships the Wright and several minesweepers were also sunk. The airfield, hit once in the morning and then in the afternoon was inoperable. The airplanes, parked in central areas to prevent sabotage, deemed the greatest threat, were devastated. A lone Texan, a trainer, was the only plane to fly against the second wave. Poor man, he wasn’t able to make even one pass before the Zeroes shot him down.

Some PBY’s still flew, and found the Japanese carrier force north of Pearl. Headed towards Midway and Halsey’s carrier group - however that could change as Pearl was almost defenseless. Hit again, hard. That is what he would do. Finish the job, destroy the Pacific Fleet. His fleet.

Some reports came in that Wake and Guam had air raids while Midway was shelled. Surely, their next move would be against Wake or Pearl again.

By God, dawn would surely bring more enemy planes Husband thought – but this time he was going to be ready and with Bull he had an aggressive commander that could eventually hit back hard.

What clever buggers Archibald Wavell thought to himself. The latest news from Burma was just in. It seems the Japanese infiltrated Burma with troops weeks ago and they now have a RAF base surrounded, and cut the railroad to Rangoon for good measure. In addition landings in Kota Bharu, Miri, Makin, Apari and Batan Island had occurred. It seemed the Japanese were everywhere.

Technically, Burma was outside his area of concern. However, Archie knew well that pilot Brooke-Popham was near a nervous collapse. One only had to talk with him to see it. In Burma under Brooke-Popham was Mcleod who was better, but wouldn’t be his choice. Percival, in Malay was also weak. In fact, leadership was weak almost everywhere and there was insufficient troop strength in theater. At least Rommel wasn’t here.

It was time to gather his forces, and that was exactly what he was doing within his command here in India. However, the PM has issued orders that Singapore and Rangoon be held and that would be difficult for the Japanese had caught Brooke-Popham terribly unprepared. True, not as bad as they caught the Yanks, but still it rankled – if only we had more time. Trade space for time, that was the answer, but the PM wouldn’t hear that.

However, while he was concentrating his forces, Operation Matador was in full swing in Malaya dispersing the defense. Already, the northern airbases were suppressed, but there was some good groups still active in Singapore and they should be able to keep the sea lanes open for supply despite losing the Prince of Wales and the Repulse.

What to think of that defeat? Sunk by airplanes while at sea – the most modern battleship in the world. Not good, not good at all for the Navy but they did show the world it could be done at Taranto.

Idly, Archie reached for his tea on his right. Everything of importance he always put to the right side. The tea had cooled and with a bitter look on his face he thought that wouldn’t do, wouldn’t

Brooke-Popham collapsed onto his divan as the thought about Vice Admiral Layton’s latest signal. The three destroyer’s of the Prince of Wales and Recluse task force continued forward to disrupt the landings at Kota Bharu and ran pell mell into a large Japanese surface group of 3BB, 2CA, 1CL and 6 DD. The Express was sunk before they could break away, but one of the battleships was the Yamoto – the unsinkable battleship that was believed to still be under construction.

The Japanese now held complete naval superiority and could reinforce and supply Malaya. Not only that, they could use those monsters to shell his troops all along the coast or to support an invasion further south to cut off the 9th, 11th, and 12th Indian divisions from Singapore.

In Burma the developments were just as bad as the large fighter airfield at Toungo fell, to a group known as Dacoits – Indian Bandits! The 1st Burma Brigade ambushed by more Dacoits near Taung Gyi were forced from their base and into the jungle..

Brook-Popham, caught between the anvil and the hammer, thought about his reinforcement task forces headed towards Rangoon and Singapore. Rangoon was under continuous aerial bombardment with sunk ships in the anchorage, while Singapore was relatively safe thanks to several squadrons of fighters. What to do? The PM gave implicit instructions to hold Singapore at all costs, and Percival wanted those troops – but there was the Yamoto.

General DeWitt decided to catch several hours sleep at the Presido, his command headquarters, when several explosions or artillery fire awakened him rather rudely. Artillery fire, his sleepy mind struggled with the implications as he rushed to the balcony where he saw heavy flashes of light and then heard the rumbling of thunder coming from past the harbor.

His first thought was sabotage, and the harbor was full of ships loading troops. In DeWitt’s mind sabotage posed a huge threat -- firm steps would be needed there. An observant man, DeWitt noticed that San Francisco still wasn’t blacked out despite his orders.

But, on second thought, it did look and sound like artillery fire he thought while he hastily dressed.

By dawn, DeWitt knew his mistake. A small raiding or scouting task force of one cruiser and several escorts approached the waters off San Francisco sinking a yard patrol boat which thankfully alerted the defenses.

In the hours that followed all patrol planes failed to sight the enemy ships giving DeWitt further justification for believing spies were very active.

Despite the small loss, USAAF training programs would be curtailed all along the west coast as more air groups would be tasked with search and others would be ready to launch anti-shipping missions.

Brooke-Popham thought he had seen everything the Japanese could throw at him since the discovery of the Yamoto off Malaya and the Dacoits in Burma – until Mergui, south of Rangoon, fell to Japanese paratroopers.

Their strike was totally unexpected as recon flown from Port Blair had reported no Japanese ground forces approaching the base. There were no survivors just like at Hong Kong...

Hong Kong had gone dark two days ago, and now, the grim events there were detailed by a signal from the yanks in Manilla. Two battered British destroyers entered Manilla’s harbor to report that Hong Kong fell to an overwhelming attack with no survivors. Wiped out to the last man. No other ships or planes escaped the Japanese onslaught at Hong Kong.

The first ten days of the war would have broken a lesser man, but not Husband E. Kimmel. His Pacific Fleet savaged during a surprise attack, Wake and Guam captured, a raid on San Francisco shipping by the now identified light cruiser Tose and two torpedo boats had weakened his forces but not his resolve until he met the Tose again this time at Pearl Harbor.

That ghost ship, the Tose, taking advantage of a moonless night, snuck into Pearl Harbor and managed to sink four destroyers, a patrol boat and a small cargo ship. Then, bad weather socked in the air base at Lihue (and her dive bombers) while only a few B-17’s from Pearl bombed the retreating ships to no effect.

Husband quickly vectored in Bull and his carriers from the south, where they were guarding troop transports at Canton Island, hoping to sink the Tose. Then, like a ghost, the Tose slipped thru the noose tightening around her and escaped.

Now, King had relieved him, recalled to Washington to face the Roberts Commission. Subsequent reports, investigations and hearings would blame Husband for the Pearl Harbor losses and his four stars were removed permanently. Replaced by Nimitz, his plans for the invasion of Wake put on hold, Husband was denied a chance to prove himself and that broke him.

His family would petition congress to have his rank restored posthumously, but future presidents from both parties would refuse to do so. His only recompense, for a life of service, was being portrayed somewhat favorably in the movie “Tora, Tora, Tora”, a 52-47 non-binding resolution from the Senate that exonerated him 58 years after that fateful Sunday, and making the cover of the December 15th issue of Time magazine but not quite in the manner he would of wished.

Captain Getting, with his task force comprised of cruisers Canberra, Perth, and Adelaide were to rendezvous with the French super destroyer Le Triomphant and then attempt to disrupt the Japanese invasion forces at Rabaul.

Getting would have liked to wait for the arrival of the New Zealand cruisers, but unfortunately the latest signals from the Lark Battalion were quite grave.

With surface radar on the Perth, and the scout planes from Port Moresby, Getting hoped he would be able to surprise the Japanese…and several hours later he did though not without cost.

After the sharp engagement, the torpedoed Adelaide was limping to Lae while the Canberra and Perth where helping the Le Triomphant back to Townsville.

Chester Nimitz stood looking out at the harbor from what was once Admiral Kimmel’s office. He thought briefly about the change of command ceremony a few days prior. It had to be completed on the deck of a submarine instead of a battleship thanks to the Pearl Harbor raid. Perhaps this was foreshadowing, would submarines, dear to Nimitz’s heart, play a larger role in this war than battleships?

Before long, as always, his keen mind turned to divining the Japanese objectives in the Pacific and how to counter them. Clearly, his three carriers were overmatched by the Japanese and for the time being, Nimitz was on the strategic defense.

On the 18th, the Japanese tried to invade Midway, however the Marine coastal artillery turned them back before an actual landing could occur. Midway needed to be defended, because long range Japanese bombers based out of Midway’s large runways could threaten Pearl Harbor. If Nimitz could get more air power there the island would act as an unsinkable carrier offsetting some of the Japanese’s naval superiority.

A recent dispatch showed the Japanese landing at Canton Island. Luckily, Kimmel had off loaded several Marine units there and the Japanese were annihilated in a senseless banzai charge.

In addition, Ocean Island fell however the bases in the North Pacific reported no enemy forces.

It was still unclear to Nimitz what the Japanese were trying to accomplish. Nimitz decided to gather his assets and reinforce Midway, and hopefully he would have enough time then to turn his attention to Canton Islands and the Southwest Pacific areas before they struck again.

The last of the survivors were brought aboard the destroyer Paul Jones. The rescued survivors were from a small tanker fleet that was wiped out by the enemy, but not by the Japanese. The survivors, whether British, Dutch or American all told the same story….they were sunk by the Germans!

Back aboard the flagship of the ABDA’s most powerful surface action group remaining, the officers were very busy coordinating land, sea and air searches.

The hunt for the Admiral Lutzow had begun!

Could the Houston, five light cruisers (Boise, Marblehead, Durban, Dragon and De Ruyter), and several destroyers sink the Lutzow?

Meanwhile back in Batavia, Brooke-Popham was having another very bad day.

Brooke-Popham was having another bad day. The thought came while he struggled to sleep. That thouhgt tormented him almost as much as the Admiral Lutzow’s unwelcome appearance. If the German’s could send a pocket battleship to the Indian Ocean, what was to stop them from sending U boats?

The Lutzow had disappeared, but search forces did find three Japanese ships in the Christmas Island area and the Houston task force was investigating. Perhaps it was the Lutzow and some supply ships. Brooke-Popham would know in a day or two.

With the Germans’ weighing on Brooke-Popham heavily, his high anxiety was not helped by additional developments in Burma and Malaya.

In Burma, the PM put Harltey in charge, known to be a promising and careful officer. He had already retaken Toungoo and was now supervising the attack on Taung Gyi now home to some Japanese fighters. However, those dastardly Dacoits escaped from Toungoo and now staged attacks from the jungle into Prome.

In Malaya, the PM replaced Percival with Cassels, who was also known to be a promising and careful officer. He had, much to Brooke-Popham’s displeasure, thrown out the meticulous Operation Matador and ordered a general retreat to Singapore which he planned on fortifying very heavily.

On the 19th reinforcements arrived in Singapore and was attacked by airplanes while unloading. Despite the presence of CAP they enemy managed to damage the Ceres and sink a transport or two that were blessedly already empty of troops and materials. Not really a surprising result, since the only supply ships to make it into Singapore were sunk by Bettys 40 miles southeast of Singapore after having unloaded.

Brooke-Popham couldn’t figure it out. Houston Force had found the spotted Japanese fleet: two escorts and a troop transport. What where they doing south of Christmas Island (IO) headed towards Australia? The Japanese had also invaded Lae – perhaps their objective was Australia.

On one hand, it was a great naval victory and that made Brooke-Popham feel good. On the other hand, were the implications of what the Japanese were doing and that gave Brooke-Popham fits. He simply wasn’t suited for this. Why wouldn’t the PM replace him? The PM had been planning for months to replace him, but now almost one month into the war he was still here in command.

Brooke-Popham raised his sherry in silent thanks to Force Houston. At least he had one victory.

Houston Force would head back to Soerabaja to replenish ammunition stores and then continue searching the area for the Lutzow. Soon, Brooke-Popham would be able to add the British cruisers to the search, but for now they were busy escorting troop convoys to Sumatra.

Brooke-Popham was tempted to send force Houston to contest some of the Japanese landings, most recently at Manado and Morotai, but he simply couldn’t do it without air cover. The Prince of Wales taught him that. At least Soerabaja had a strong fighter presence.

Brooke-Popham couldn’t believe it. His only remaining surface action group struck by carrier borne aircraft strikes. Somehow, the Japanese carriers steamed past Kendari, and arrived north east of Soerabaja just in time to hit the returning cruisers hard.

The Houston was still afloat, barely, and the De Ruyter and Durban were sunk. The fighters from Soerabaja never showed to provide protection.

Brooke-Popham would have to rename Houston Force and find some more ships somewhere.

Captain Getting thought it was a suicide mission. His orders were to gather all available ships and stop the invasion of Lae. Surely, the Japanese knew he was in the area after his successful raid on Rabaul. Sometimes, he wished he was back in his submarine with less responsibility or perhaps chasing after the Lutzow in the Indian Ocean since his ship had experience chasing the Admiral Scheer back in February.

There were over 700 souls on Canberra now and he was responsible for them all plus the other ships in the task force. Le Trioumphant and Adelaide were making their way back to Sydney for repairs,but now his force comprised Canberra, flag, Australia, Perth, Leander and Achilles. No destroyers and that made Getting nervous. Very nervous.

However, Getting was wrong and those blokes in Intelligence were right for once. Information from scout planes, coastal watchers, radar and signal intelligence allowed Getting to catch the Japanese again this time at Finnschhafen near Lae.

During the night time encounters, seven transports sunk -- 4 caught while unloading troops. Seven small escorts, sub chasers and patrol boats sunk too. The Japanese would take Finnschafen and most probably Lae, but his ships made the Japanese pay a very high price.

Now, if he could escape back to the relative safety of the Australian coastline.

Brooke-Popham had fallen into the habit of having the latest dispatches read to him. His hands shook so much now, it was impossible for him to read a held dispatch and his nervous energy made him pace rather than sit at a desk. Bad news was best heard whilst pacing anyhow.

Houston Force, first tremendous victors, then terribly savaged by the Japanese and they weren’t done with the poor Houston yet. Somehow, she managed to limp back into Soerabaja, but only after her escort the light cruiser Dragon was torpedoed by planes flying from Manado. Luckily the Dutch managed to fly some sorties, or else it would have been much worse. But once Houston was in port she still wasn’t safe.

The fire tugs were dousing Houston, guiding her in the Harbor, when more air raids occurred and the poor Houston was hit by another bomb, but still she lived….barely. Her Captain refused to have her scuttled and was making grandiose plans to get her to Colombo or Perth. Yankee ingenuity, don’t you know. That Captain even talked the harbor master into reloading the 8” guns on her. What an optimist.

The Japanese carriers seem to have pulled back, now that Manado had fallen and so had Namlea near Ambon. Ambon might be safe, if anything could be safe these days, since Brooke-Popham had sent the Gull Battalion from Australia there.

In Malaya, the retreat to Singapore seemed to be going well. However air raids had been stepped up a notch. Where were his hurricanes and spitfires?

In Burma, things were looking up so something bad was going to happen. The railroad was clear and the Japanese hadn’t shown up in force except for those Dacoits. Too good to be true so something bad was surely on the horizon. Brooke-Popham would have all the Burma dispatches read to him just to be safe.

Almost one month into this new war, Brooke-Popham could count his forces’ successes on one shaking hand, perhaps just one finger. His setbacks were too numerous to mention.

The latest addition, as he had feared earlier, was the Admiralty report on the first confirmed U-boat attacks in the Indian Ocean near Colombo. It seemed to Brook-Popham that the axis forces were working together to cut off India and Australia from England.

Ambon was invaded yesterday, but the Gull Battalion and Dutch forces there had thrown back several assaults. Subsequent air attacks on the Japanese resulted in the loss of several bombers to enemy fighters to no effect.

Well, the news wasn’t all bad as the Houston still survived at Soerabaja. Maybe she could make her way to Perth.

The strategy in China, as with the entire game, is to make the Japanese fight for everything. Hence the defense of places like Wenchow, Ambon, Midway, etc... Wenchow has plentiful early supply and a relatively good infantry unit starts there.

McArthur has adopted the Iron Triangle defense and both Clark and Manila are invested as of Dec 31, 1941. Slightly more AV is in Manila than Clark. The airbases were savaged during the first two turns, but have come back nicely since then.

The first probing attack on Manila happened 12/31/1941. McArthur, being aggressive, will counter attack despite the cost in supplies.

And that is pretty much about it for game areas not mentioned in previous posts.

What happens in January? Do more Germans show up? Or perhaps an Italian submarine? Will Brooke-Popham break down and be blamed for the fall of Singers? Stay tuned...